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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) Reaches Definitive Agreement to Acquire Withoutabox

image The Internet Movie Database, the Web's most comprehensive and authoritative source of information on movies, TV, and celebrities and a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced it has agreed to acquire Without A Box, Inc., the worldwide media company dedicated to advancing independent film and connecting artists with audiences.

Co-founded in 2000 by David Straus and Joe Neulight, Withoutabox empowers all stakeholders in the independent film arena, from aspiring and established filmmakers to film festival organizers and audiences. For independent filmmakers, Withoutabox offers a fully integrated service for submitting films to festivals worldwide and promoting these films directly to fans everywhere. For film festival organizers, Withoutabox provides tools to manage and promote film festivals online.

"For eight years, Withoutabox has enabled filmmakers and festivals to reach the widest audience possible," said David Straus, CEO, Withoutabox. "Now, they will be able to connect directly with the 50 million film lovers who visit IMDb each month."

"Our mission has always been to provide film lovers around the world with the most comprehensive movie-, TV-, and celebrity-related information," said Colin Bryar, Vice President, IMDb. "Working with Withoutabox, we can offer our viewers even more great film-related content."

Withoutabox will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in the Los Angeles area.

About IMDb

The Internet Movie Database is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 50 million unique visitors each month. IMDb offers a searchable database of over 1 million movies, TV, and entertainment programs and over 2.5 million cast and crew members, making it the Web's most comprehensive and authoritative source of information on movies, TV, and celebrities. IMDb features include cast lists, photographs, quotes, trivia, reviews, box-office data, celebrity biographies, coverage of film festivals and major events, and streaming trailers. IMDb also offers IMDbPro, a site designed specifically for entertainment industry professionals, and IMDb Resume, a service that enables actors and crew members to promote themselves directly to IMDb's audience of film lovers and film professionals. IMDb.com, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc.

About Withoutabox

In operation since 2000, Withoutabox has developed proprietary online tools that connect more than 150,000 filmmakers to nearly 3,000 film festivals in 200 countries, making it The Media Company for Independents. Withoutabox's Film Submission system enables independent filmmakers to search nearly 3,000 worldwide film festivals and then submit their work online to more than 700 festivals. The system also helps the film festivals to manage and market their events. Withoutabox's Film Finders business, which Withoutabox acquired in 2006, has been a leading aggregator and seller of independent film data since 1988.

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